LD 

IZ45 




COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



SETH LOW. LL.D 



OF THIS MINUTE THERE HAVE BEEN 

PRINTED ONE COPY, SIGNED, FOR 

PRESENTATION TO MR, LOW 

AND ONE HUNDRED COPIES 

FOR DISTRIBUTION 



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 



SETH LOW, LLD. 





INUTES ADOPTED BY THE 
TRUSTEES OF 'COLUMBIA 
COLLEGE IN THE CITY OF 
NEW YORK AND BY THE UNIVERSI- 
TY COUNCIL ON THE RESIGNATION 
OF SETH LOW,LLD. AS PRESIDENT 





^^:; 







T A STATED MEETING 
OF THE TRUSTEES OF 
C*^L.l iMB(A COLLEGE 
IN THE CITY OF NEW 
YORK, HELD AT THE 
COLLEGE ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
OF OCTOBER, IN THE YEAR OF 
OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND NINE 
HUNDRED AND ONE, THE FOLLOW- 
ING MINUTE WAS ADOPTED BY 
UNANIMOUS VOTE : 
^..^ HE TRUSTEES HAVE HEARD 
WITH THE DEEPEST REGRET 
THAT MR, LOW HAS DETER- 
MINED TO RESIGN THE OFFICE OF 
PRESIDENT OF THIS UNIVERSITY. 
THEY APPRECIATE, HOWEVER, THE 
PATRIOTIC PURPOSES WHICH 
HAVE INDUCED HIM TO RETIRE 
FROM HIS PRESENT POST; AND 
RECOGNIZE THE DELICACY AND 
UNSELFISHNESS WHICH HAVE DIC- 
TATED HIS REQUESTS THAT 




HIS RESIGNATION BE CONSIDERED 
FINAL AND THAT IT BE ACCEPTED 
TO TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY. 
EQUESTS SO MADE CANNOT 
BE IGNORED OR REFUSED, 
AND THE TRUSTEES HAVE 
THEREFORE FELT CONSTRAINED 
TO COMPLY. WITH MR. LOW'S 
WISHES AND TO ACCEPT HIS RES- 
IGNATION AT THIS PRESENT MEET- 
ING. IN SO DOING, THEY DEEM IT 
PROPER TO ENTER UPON THEIR 
MINUTES A RECORD OF THEIR 
AFFECTIONATE REGARD FOR MR. 
LOW PERSONALLY, AND OF THEIR 
HIGH OPINION OF THE VALUE OF 
HIS SERVICES TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
R. LOW HAS NOW SERVED 
AS TRUSTEE FOR TWENTY 
YEARS. HE HAS SERVED 
AS PRESIDENT FOR EXACTLY 
TWELVE YEARS, HAVING BEEN 
ELECTED OCTOBER THE SEVENTH, 












EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY- 






NINE— A PERIOD MARKED BY MOST 






IMPORTANT CHANGES, WHICH 






MAY FAIRLY BE SAID TO HAVE 






CREATED A NEW COLUMBIA. 




■ 


X 


GREAT UNIVERSITY HAS 
BEEN ORGANIZED OUT OF A 
GROUP OF SCATTERED AND 






UNRELATED SCHOOLS. IT HAS 






BEEN MOVED TO NEW AND GENER- 






OUS QUARTERS THAT WORTHILY 






ACCOMMODATE IT, AND THAT 






INVITE THE LARGE EXPANSION 






WHICH IS CERTAINLY BEFORE IT. 






IT HAS ESTABLISHED INTIMATE 






AND SATISFACTORY AFFILIATIONS 






WITH BARNARD COLLEGE AND 






TEACHERS' COLLEGE. ITS EDU- 






CATIONAL ORGANIZATION IS 






THOROUGH AND EFFECTIVE; A 






STRONG, ENTHUSIASTIC COMMON 






LIFE NOW PERVADES AND IN- 






SPIRES EVERY PART; THE NUM- 



























SUPPLEMENT THE FUNDS OF THE 
UNIVERSITY, AND TO HELP EVERY 
GOOD CAUSE IN WHICH ITS MEM- 
BERS ARE INTERESTED. 
^.^ HE TRUSTEES CANNOT BUT 
1 DEPLORE THE LOSS OF AN 
^ EXECUTIVE OFFICER SO 






ABLE, EXPERIENCED AND ZEAL- 
OUS, BUT THEY REJOICE TO LEARN 
THAT MR. LOW INTENDS TO CON- 
TINUE A TRUSTEE AND THEY 
INDULGE THE HOPE THAT WHAT- 
EVER POST OF DUTY HE MAY 
HEREAFTER OCCUPY THIS BOARD 
WILL STILL CONTINUE TO ENJOY 
THE BENEFIT OF HIS COUNSEL. 

rRUE COPY : : : : SIGNED 

A WM. C. SCHERMERHORN 

^^ CHAIRMAN ::::::::: 




I/^LJXT D r>TXTC /^I rTilZ 


::::::: JOHN B. PINb, CLERK 










T A SPECIAL MEETING 
OF THE UNIVERSITY 
COUNCIL, HELD ON 
THE TWELFTH DAY 
OF OCTOBER, IN THE 
YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUS- 
AND NINE HUNDRED AND ONE, THE 
FOLLOWING MINUTE WAS ADOPT- 
ED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE : 
^..^^ HE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL 
OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, 
CONVENED IN SPECIAL SES- 
SION FOR THIS PURPOSE, DESIRES 
TO ENTER UPON ITS RECORDS A 
MINUTE SUGGESTED BY THE 
RESIGNATION OF SETH LOW, FOR 
TWELVE YEARS PRESIDENT OF 
THE UNIVERSITY. 

HEN K LOW BECAME 
THE PRESIDENT OF CO- 
UMBIA COLLEGE, IN 
THE ACADEMIC YEAR MDCCC- 
LXXXIX-XC. THE INSTITUTION 







CONSISTED OF FOUR FACULTIES, 
IN CHARGE RESPECTIVELY OF THE 
SCHOOLS OF ARTS, MINES, LAW 
AND POLITICAL SCIENCE. 
~=^ HESEFACULTIESNUMBERED 
I ONE HUNDRED AND 
TWENTY-TWO OFFICERS 
OF INSTRUCTION; AND THESE 
SCHOOLS WERE ATTENDED BY 
ELEVEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY- 
FOUR STUDENTS. THE FACULTIES 
WERE CONNECTED WITH EACH 
OTHER ONLY THROUGH THE PRES- 
IDENT AND TRUSTEES OF THE COL- 
LEGE ; AND THE SCHOOLS EXISTED 
ALONGSIDE OF EACH OTHER 
WITHOUT ANY PRINCIPLE OR CUS- 
TOM OF RECIPROCITY. THE LI- 
BRARY OF THE COLLEGE CON- 
TAINED NINETY-ONE THOUSAND 
VOLUMES ; AND THE WEALTH OF 
THE CORPORATION WAS ESTI- 
MATED AT TEN MILLIONS AND FIVE 



p^ 



-r\ 



HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. 
THE FACULTIES, SCHOOLS, LI- 
BRARY AND ENTIRE EQUIPMENT 
WERE CROWDED INTO THE NAR- 
ROW AND NOISY QUARTERS BOR- 
DERING UPON THETRACKS OF THE 
NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILWAY. 

0-DAY, COLUMBIA UNIVER- 
'Tv CONSISTS OF NINE 

FACULTIES, IN CHARGE RE- 
SPECTIVELY OF COLUMBIA COL- 
LEGE, BARNARD COLLEGE, TEACH- 
ERS' COLLEGE, AND THE UNIVER- 
SITY SCHOOLS OF LAW, MEDICINE, 
APPLIED SCIENCE, PURE SCIENCE, 
PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICAL SCI- 
ENCE. THESE FACULTIES NOW 
NUMBER THREE HUNDRED AND 
EIGHTY-FIVE OFFICERS OF IN- 
STRUCTION ; AND THESE COL- 
LEGES AND SCHOOLS ARE NOW AT- 
TENDED BY FOUR THOUSAND FIVE 
HUNDRED STUDENTS. THE FAC- 



ULTIES ARE NOW CO-ORDINATED 
WITH EACH OTHER IN THE UNIVER- 
SITY COUNCIL, IN WHICH ALL THE 
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES AND 
INTERESTS OF THE UNIVERSITY 
ARE OFFICIALLY REPRESENTED; 
AND A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF 
RECIPROCITY BETWEEN ALL THE 
PARTS OF THE INSTITUTION AND 
ALSO WITH THE UNION THEOLOG- 
ICAL SEMINARY NOW PREVAILS. 
^ HE LIBRARYOFTHE UNIVER- 
SITY NOW CONTAINS THREE 
HUNDRED AND ELEVEN 
THOUSAND VOLUMES; AND THE 
WEALTH OF THE CORPORATION IS 
NOW ESTIMATED AT EIGHTEEN MIL- 
LIONS OF DOLLARS OF WHICH ONE 
AND A HALF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, 
IN ROUND NUMBERS, REPRESENT 
THE SPLENDID GENEROSITY AND 
MUNIFICENCE OF MR. LOW HIM- 
SELF. AND, FINALLY, THE UNIVER- 



P=T 



SITY IS NOW LOCATED UPON A SITE 
AND POSSESSES A PHYSICAL EQUIP- 
MENT UNSURPASSED IN BEAUTY, 
COMFORT AND COMPLETENESS BY 
THOSE OF ANY INSTITUTION OF 
LEARNING IN THE WORLD. 
^,=^ HIS MAGNIFICENT ACHIEVE- 
MENT, WROUGHT WITHIN 
THE SHORT PERIOD OF 
TWELVE YEARS, HAS NO PARALLEL 
IN THE EDUCATIONAL HISTORY OF 
ANY COUNTRY OR OF ANY AGE ; 
AND NO FURTHER OR HIGHER 
PROOFS OF MR. LOW'S ABILITIES 
AS AN EDUCATOR AND AN ADMINIS- 
TRATOR THAN THE MERE RECITAL 
OF THESE FACTS ARE NECESSARY. 
UT MR. LOW BROUGHT TO 
THE SOLUTION OF THE 
PROBLEMS OFTHE UNIVER- 
SITY QUALITIES EVEN MORE IM- 
PORTANT AND NEEDFUL THAN 
THESE INTELLECTUAL POWERS : : 











FIRST AND HIGHEST AMONG THESE 






QUALITIES, AND MOST INDISPEN- 
SABLE, WAS THE POWER TO WIN 






AND TO HOLD THE FULL AND UN- 






WAVERING CONFIDENCE AND THE 






CORDIAL AND ZEALOUS CO-OP- 






ERATION OF ALL HIS COLLEAGUES 






—A POWER WHICH CAN COME 






ONLY FROM AN INNATE LOVE OF 






TRUTH, JOINED WITH AN OPEN 






MIND, A HIGH SENSE OF JUSTICE, 
UNBENDING INTEGRITY, KINDNESS 
OF HEART AND GENUINE DEFER- 




ENCE IN MANNER. 


1 




% 


— ^ VERY OFFICER OF THE UNI- 






H VERSITY FELT THAT HIS IN- 






TERESTS AND THOSE OF HIS 




DEPARTMENT WERE SAFE IN THE 




HANDS OF MR. LOW, AND THAT 






NO OCCULT INFLUENCES WOULD 






EVER BE ALLOWED TO PREVAIL 






IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE 






AFFAIRS OF THE INSTITUTION. 











*'^^ T IS THE RECOLLECTION OF 
THESE RARE AND INVALU- 
ABLE TRAITS, EVEN MORE 
THAN OF HIS ADMINISTRATIVE 
ABILITIES, WHICH MAKES THE 
PARTING V^ITH HIM SO HARD AND 
REGRETFUL AND WHICH MOVES 
THIS COUNCIL TO EXPRESS THE 
HOPE AND WISH, FOR ITSELF AND 
FOR THE BODIES REPRESENTED IN 
IT, THAT FROM HIS SEAT IN THE 
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNI- 
VERSITY, MR. LOW MAY STILL CON- 
TINUE TO MANIFEST HIS OLD IN- 
TEREST IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
THE UNIVERSITY AND MAY STILL 
EXERT HIS GREAT POWERS IN THE 
PROMOTION OF ITS WELFARE. 

HOUGH CONSCIOUS THAT 



^ 



f=^ 



THESE WORDS DO NOT EX- 
PRESS WITH ANYADEQUACY 
THE FEELINGS OF THE MEMBERS 
OF THIS BODY CONCERNING THE 



OBLIGATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY 
AND ALL OF ITS OFFICERS TO MR. 
LOW, AND THEIR DEEP REGRET AT 
HIS RETIREMENT FROM THE PRESI- 
DENCY, YET YOUR COMMITTEE 
WOULD BEG TO RECOMMEND 
THAT THIS MINUTE BE SPREAD 
IN FULL UPON THE RECORDS OF 
THE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL, AND 
THAT THE SECRETARY BE DIRECT- 
ED TO TRANSMIT A COPY OF IT, 
WITH A SUITABLE LETTER, TO MR. 
LOW. 

TRUE COPY : : : : SIGNED 
NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER 
ACTING PRESIDENT : : : : 
: : : : : WILLIAM H. CARPENTER 
SECRETARY ::::::::::: 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 929 153 4 



